CURMUDGUCATION: MO: Longtime Charter Sponsor Leaves the Biz (And Parents)

CURMUDGUCATION: MO: Longtime Charter Sponsor Leaves the Biz (And Parents)

MO: Longtime Charter Sponsor Leaves the Biz (And Parents)

The University of Central Missouri has been sponsoring charter schools since 1999, serving as the major sponsor of charters in Kansas City (in Missouri, the rule used to be that only St. Louis and Kansas City could house charter schools).

St. Louis schools have been a mess, with both public and charter schools having their share of legislatively-inflicted woes. And some legislators have continued to try hard to expand charter reach in the state, right up through this year.

But one notable feature of Missouri charter school law is that it allows institutions of higher education to circumvent taxpayers and sponsor charter schools. That's the biz that UCM got into.

From UCM's point of view, that makes some sense. UCM was founded as a Normal School, aka 19th century teacher training college, and they continue to educate teachers. UCM has used its charter schools as part of the teacher training program, placing their student teachers in charter classrooms. 

But in Missouri, as in the rest of the country, the teacher pipeline is drying up, as fewer and fewer young folks find the conditions and compensation with which they would work particularly attractive. The state is trying to CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: MO: Longtime Charter Sponsor Leaves the Biz (And Parents)

Kansas City Schools’ Accreditation Woes: Are the Philanthropic Vultures Circling? | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Kansas City Schools’ Accreditation Woes: Are the Philanthropic Vultures Circling? | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Kansas City Schools’ Accreditation Woes: Are the Philanthropic Vultures Circling?

On April 02, 2021, the Kansas City Star reported that an “outside group” spent $100K in the Kansas City (MO) School Board election in support of two contenders, locals Tanesha Ford and Kandace Buckener.

In the April 2021 KC board election, two other members were unopposed. Ford and Buckener were buoyed by $100K in mystery money funneled through Blaque independent expenditure committee. Since Blaque is not directly connected to the candidates it supports, the “non-committee” is not required to disclose to the public who, exactly, is funding its efforts.

Members of the KC public in support of traditional public schools are concerned that Blaque’s undisclosed money comes from school choice promoters, as the April 23, 2021, KCUR reports:

Advocates for the district are worried about money that poured into the school board election from school choice proponents — BLAQUE gets funding from SchoolSmart KC, which in turn gets money from the Kauffman and Hall foundations.

Based on the KCUR article, Ford and Buckener appear to be concerned about “student achievement,” which certainly involves the test scores upon which KC’s longstanding accreditation woes critically depend. Other components of Missouri CONTINUE READING: Kansas City Schools’ Accreditation Woes: Are the Philanthropic Vultures Circling? | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog